This invention relates generally to eyelid treatment devices and methods and, more particularly, to a treatment apparatus for treating eye ailments that require heat treatments and relief that includes forcing water into a treatment head that creates an exothermic event that prepares a heated compress for immediate application to an eye stye and other related conditions.
An eye stye is an ophthalmological condition characterized as a small, painful lump on the eyelid or area around an eye. Similar eye irritations include Blepharitis, Chalazia, Conjunctivitis (pink eye), and eye pain in general, and. The lump may be red, filled with pus, and may become painful and infected. Although rarely affecting vision or causing damage to the eye itself, an eye stye usually increases in size and lasts for several days before bursting and then healing.
Various methods have been proposed for treating an eye stye with the goal of decreasing its longevity and minimizing the pain and unsightliness of the event. For instance, most eye or eyelid conditions are improved with contact by a hot compress. Persons with eye irritations have used warm tea-bags, heated potatoes, and even heated spoons. The treatment of an eye stye may need to be repeated multiple times over several days to be effective. Unfortunately, simply warming up and applying a wet washcloth to one's eyelid is difficult, inconvenient, and perhaps not as effective compared to receiving treatment by a medical professional who may have an instrument or warm compress materials that apply to an eye stye more accurately and with greater safety and efficacy.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have an eye stye treatment device having a handle and a treatment portion that a patient user can operate at home or away, as it is portable, to apply a heated treatment head to an eyelid. Further, it would be desirable to have an eye stye treatment device that selectively injects water into a treatment head having a granular material that generates an exothermic event inside an unvented internal chamber that heats a soft padded head which may be touched to the eyelid for treating a stye. In addition, it would be desirable to have an eye stye treatment device that is refillable with water to be injected and in which the treatment head may be replaced with a replacement head easily and after each use.